Unfortunate Entanglement
by Charlie O
Summary: What if ShinRa had decided to hide huge materia in a slightly less likely place? What if Vincent hadn't been found in Nibelheim? AU, Cid/Vin. Rather crackish if I do say so myself...


**Disclaimer: **Perhaps I could just borrow the legal rights for a while?

**Warnings:** Lack of Cid swearing (Crazy right? I have no idea how it happened…) Prostitution, and a detailed sort of necking scene. (?) (I honestly have no idea what to call it...)

**Written By: **Charlie O.

**Overall Rating: **T

**Authors Note: **So, I really just wanted to write a story about a prostitute and I thought: "Why not Vincent?" So I did it.

**Unfortunate Entanglement**

Cid watched uncertainly from his place near the steering of the Highwind as Cloud paced back and forth in front of the giant windows near the front of the ship. If Cid didn't know the kid better he'd think the other blonde was muttering curses under his breath.

Cloud hadn't stopped pacing since they had gotten back onto the ship, obviously distressed about their most recent attempt to obtain the Huge Materia from ShinRa. They had spent what seemed like hours navigating their way through tunnels and hallways just to be told by a cocky looking Turk that the Huge Materia had been taken and hidden weeks ago.

For the past hour the entire team had been trying to figure out where ShinRa might hide something so important, heads aching with the lack of reasonable possibilities. If Cid was being honest, he had given up the attempt about a half hour ago. He knew he wasn't smart enough to figure things like this out and decided that to keep his stress level down he would let the rest of the team work it out.

He leaned casually against the control panel and let his eyes fall back to the area where their leader was pacing. Finding that he was quickly becoming bored he turned his attention away from the aggravated blonde, his eyes landing on the toy cat. Cait Sith's eyes held a blank look, perhaps that meant he was thinking? A moment later the large feline eyes were blinking in what appeared to be confusion.

"Well, I know where the files say it's being hidden." His moogle wandered over to the now still Cloud. "Doesn't much make sense t'me though. Why anyone would hide somethin' so important in a place like that is somethin' I'll never know." He shook his head in disbelief.

"Where?" Cloud all but demanded.

"Honey Bee Inn?" Cait Sith said, the end of his sentence coming out a bit more like a question than a statement.

Clouds eyebrow twitched with irritation, a frown quickly overtaking his features. His eyes closed and his fingers came up to pinch the bridge of his nose as he shook his head. "You have got to be kidding me."

"Nope!" The toy cat replied cheerfully.

"Fantastic." He turned to Cid, frown still in place. "Head to Midgar."

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The air above Midgar was thick with smog, the observation window appearing as if it were a plain grey wall. Cid checked the navigation system, the map confirming that they were indeed exactly where they needed to be. He turned to find Cloud, eagerly waiting for confirmation that they had reached their destination. All it took was a nod in his direction before the blonde was up and giving everyone instructions and explaining what he wanted to happen.

"All right everybody, this mission is going to need to be performed in a stealthy manner; we all remember the trap doors we ran into last time we got caught in the Manor. I think I speak for everyone when I say that I don't want to get stuck in the sewers again." He took a pause for breath and to check that everyone in the group was still paying attention to him. It wasn't often that he spoke to the entire group like this and he expected their full attention when he did. "Due to the…" He stopped, a frown tugging his lips downward as he thought about how to word his next statement. "… nature of the establishment, I will be taking Cid and Barret with me; seeing as they look the most likely to go to such a building."

Cid huffed in irritation, uncertain if he should bother getting offended or just let it be.

"We'll leave in a couple of minutes by parachute, in the remaining time make sure yourselves and your materia are in order."

Cid couldn't help the smile that had grown on his face, he always found it ridiculously amusing when Cloud said things like that, clearly attempting to make himself seem more authoritative. More like a leader. Needless to say it wasn't quite working.

After the team had managed to gather themselves together they went through the standard "Parachute safety" speech and then began harnessing themselves up.

Another second found the three men plummeting through the air towards the dirty city below, the wind rushing past them in a symphony of noise. Cid stared downward, the ground rushing up quickly to meet him, then stopping suddenly as he pulled the handle to release the parachute.

When the whole group had landed in a nearby alley, Cloud quickly turned the corner and began leading the group through the city walls. Cid frowned. He had never like the city of Midgar, the buildings rose too tall and added with the terrible pollution to block out the sky, making the old pilot feel rather claustrophobic.

Another turn and the pink glow of the Bumblebee Inn's bright neon sign was shining upon their faces. They made their way forward, feet dragging as the pink building loomed over them mockingly. Only when they reached the stairs did their reluctance stop. They were now in mission mode, all anticipating their sure to be victory, adrenalin quickly rushing to fill their veins.

The guard at the door stopped them, checking the memberships they had stolen and allowing them to pass into the large building. When they were into the main hall they separated, each man heading in a different directions in hopes of finding the huge materia faster. The less time spent in the Inn the better.

Cid picked a nearby hallway and began his search, grumbling as walked down the thick red carpet. He checked doors as he came upon them, not at all surprised to find that the majority were locked and that the open ones were always supplies closets. Not the _usual _kind of supply closets, but essentially their contents were considered supplies. He opened another door, only to quickly slam the door shut again. He did _not _want to think about what those had been for.

He cursed liberally as the lights hanging above him went out, casting the entire hallway into darkness. Somehow, Cid knew this was Cloud's fault. He was just barely able to make out the sound of shuffling feet from behind him, most likely back towards the hallway entrance. Another silent curse and he quickly found himself ducking into another open doorway.

The room was only slightly brighter than the hallway beyond it's door, the only lighting present was a set of lit candles on the opposite end of the room. The flickering light cast an eerie golden glow upon the room, illuminating sharp edges and casting ominous shadows against the walls. The walls had been papered to look like stone and the floor looked to be made of cold black marble.

The bed in the corner of the room showed signs of movement and Cid began to panic. What if it was a prostitute? Or a prostitute with a client!? His face flushed in mild horror. He wasn't sure which enemy was worse, the one in this room or the one in the hall. He slowed his breath and stilled his movement hoping that the other occupant (Occupants?) of the room did not notice his presence.

It didn't work.

A tall figure rose to a sitting position on the bed, body cast in silhouette by the candle on the other side of the bed. The head tilted to the side in what appeared to be a confused manner, thick hair shifting about the shoulders with the movement. Cid could barely make out the sound of a whispered curse before louder words were smothering its echo. "I thought I was done for the night."

The voice was deep, easily filling the small room despite the quiet way in which its owner spoke. Cid squinted in an attempt to make out the face of the man across the room from him. He took a deep breath and hoped his explanation would be believable. He certainly didn't want to come off as one of those men who came to a place like this and then pretended they weren't really there for sex. "Sorry 'bout that. You can go back ta bed if ya want, I'm just hiding in here for a moment. I'm really not a custome-"

He was cut of by a hand clamping down on his mouth and a pair of lips brushing against his ear. _How on earth had he gotten over here so fast? _The thought was quickly snuffed out as the smooth voice began whispering ever so softly into his ear.

"Quite honestly I don't care if you're a paying customer or not, there is a camera and microphone in the top corner and I'd rather not have to explain to the boss why you're in my room and not receiving service." His head dropped forward against Cid's shoulder and he gave a yawn. "However, I'm tired. How about we just act for the camera and you can tell me why you felt the need to hide in here."

Cid nodded uncertainly. "Uh... where do I start?" He frowned, concentrating on keeping his voice from shaking while simultaneously trying to keep it to a whisper. He was faintly shocked to find that up close the other man's eyes were faintly glowing, casting his cheekbones in red. He swallowed nervously. He didn't want to tell this man about Avalanche, the thought had 'bad idea' written all over it. His eyes wandered to the dark room, taking in the candles and stone patterned wall paper a second time. "What's with the decoration in here?" He asked. From what he had seen, the rest of the building's interior had been designed to look Wutaian in nature.

The man at his neck gave a dark laugh, hot breath rushing out to cling to Cid's sensitive skin. "The fool Corneo thought it would be a good idea to have themed rooms." Cid shivered as a tongue pressed out to run through the stubble along the bottom of his jaw. "Needless to say, I'm reserved for the people who want the 'Dangerous Vampire' experience."

Cid felt his head jerk back, eyes quickly falling to the other's face. "Yer a vampire?" If you could shout in a whisper that's what Cid would have just done. Instead he just whispered urgently. Now that he was thinking about it the man was rather pale. And then there were the red eyes...

Said red eyes rolled up to look at the ceiling. "I can guarantee that if I was a vampire I would have ripped your throat out by now." He demonstrated his point by biting lightly at the skin below Cid's ear. "Now..." Another bite. "What was it you were doing here?"

Cid sighed, his head falling back to rest against the door behind him. "Me 'n some friend came t'get somethin' that was hidden here."

The man hummed lightly against his throat. "And you are...?"

"Cid."

"Vincent." Another neck bite.

_He seems oddly fixated on my neck... is he really human?_

An explosion beyond the doors caused both men's attentions to jerk to the doorway. Cid faintly heard the sound of running and his name being called from somewhere in the building. "Those your friends?" Vincent asked.

"Probably."

Cid's head was quickly pulled away from the door, Vincent's lips slamming forcefully against his in a demanding kiss. The other man only waited till Cid was beginning to return the kiss before he pulled away just as quickly. "Take me with you."

Cid blinked, head fogged. "What?"

"Please." He sent a glance to the camera in the corner. "I can't live like this anymore."

Cid paused only a second before grabbing the man's pale wrist and tugging him out of the room and into the red corridor beyond. They ran quickly, dodging flames and avoiding security. They ran into the dirty streets beyond the front doors, practically running into Barret and Cloud on their way out. Cid pointedly ignored the confused look Barret was sending his gothic companion and continued running.

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They soon reached the alley where they had agreed to meet with the Highwind.

Cid was leaning against a brick wall, lungs heaving from the exertion. Barret was still eyeing Vincent with suspicion. Cloud was checking the time on his watch, and Vincent stood calmly beside Cid, looking as if he hadn't just run for ten minutes.

Cloud looked up at the rest of the group. "The Highwind should be here in a couple of minutes." He let his eyes take in the entire group and then let them land on the tall newcomer. Two pairs of eyes followed their leaders. It was the first time that Cid had really noticed how tall the other man was, he was almost as tall as Barret. He was also now taking the time to realize that Vincent was only wearing a red silk robe that vaguely looked to be a skimpy imitation of traditional Wutaian formal wear, the bottom of the robe ending near the lower part of his thigh. Cloud seemed to consider him for a moment. "Who is this?"

"Uh, Vincent?" Cid answered. He gave the shorter blonde an uncertain look.

"Can you fight?" Cloud asked.

The tall newcomer nodded. "If necessary."

"Any particular skills?"

Vincent seemed to hesitate slightly before nodding. "I'm quite skilled with firearms." Barret scoffed at this, earning himself three separate glares.

Cloud shrugged and held out a hand. "Welcome to Avalanche."

The whir of engines was fast approaching and Cid grinned, eager to flaunt his airship to gorgeous red eyes.

**-End?-**

**Hope you enjoyed! Reviews are loved as always.**

**End Note: **It is highly likely that I will add more to this story at a later time. I would do it now but I have two other multi-chapter stories being written and I don't have the time for another. So unfortunately this will remain a one-shot until I am finished with at least one of my other projects.


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